On this day: January 7 in African history

Mark Renders, European Communities, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ghana's Fourth Republic was inaugurated, with Jerry Rawlings sworn in as its first elected president under a new multi-party constitution.

Sources: Library of Congress country study (via Refworld) ; Graphic Online (Daily Graphic, Ghana)

Alvaro, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Georges Wolinski, the French cartoonist born in Tunis who had drawn for Charlie Hebdo since its founding, was killed in the attack on the magazine's Paris offices alongside fellow cartoonists Cabu, Charb, Honoré and Tignous.

Sources: France 24 ; Editions Larousse ; Committee to Protect Journalists

World Economic Forum, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Raila Odinga, who went on to serve as Kenya's second prime minister and remained a defining figure in Kenyan politics for decades, was born (died 2025).

Sources: Britannica ; The Conversation (authored by Justin Willis, Gabrielle Lynch, Karuti Kanyinga and Nic Cheeseman) ; NBC News

Bob Ramsak, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Caster Semenya, South African Olympic and world champion middle-distance runner, was born.

Sources: World Athletics ; South African History Online

Tanjagari, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ethiopia's rock-hewn churches at Lalibela were among the first twelve sites inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List, in 1978. The eleven medieval churches remain the centre of Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas, Ledet or Genna, celebrated each January 7 under the Ge'ez calendar.

Sources: UNESCO World Heritage Centre ; The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History) ; TIME

YantsImages, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ruth Negga, the Ethiopian-Irish actress, was born in Addis Ababa.

Sources: who2 ; University of Limerick

Corrected in September 2026 · see what changed